Frame.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

' J. MUELLER.

FRAME.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 11, 1907.

ORRIS 5 ca, wAsMINuTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

JACOB MUELLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MUELLER BROTHERS ARTAND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

FRAME Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed March 11, 1907. Serial No. 361,826.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB MUELLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Frames,of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in framesand more particularly to improvements in frames of that class which areformed of thin elastic strips wound or bent into layers of annular formand glued together. The object of my invention being to cheapen the'costof manufacture and to produce a frame which, while of lightconstruction, shall be strong and durable and not liable to injury byordinary handling and usage.

Another object is to produce a frame of this class, with unbrokensurfaces upon its inner and outer faces, and whose cross section shallbe uniform throughout its entire extent.

To such end the invention consists in certain novel features ofconstruction. of the frame, a description of which will be found in thefollowing specification and the essen tial features of which will befound in claims appended hereto.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawings furnished herewith,in which Figure 1 is a front view of a frame embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view ofa fragment of the frame before it is fully completed. Fig. 4 is asimilar view of a fragment of the completed frame. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a mold, used in constructing the frame together witha number of the strips that are employed in the construction of theframe. Fig. 6 is a face view of two of the strips and indicating adifference in their length, and Fig. 7 is a cross section through a moldand frame. Figs. 1 and 2 are upon a considerably reduced scale.

In these views 10 represents a frame built in accordance with my method.This frame is shown as oval in form, but it is to be understood thatframes may be constructed of other forms, containing regular orirregular curves.

In general, the frame is roughly L-shaped in cross section, a shoulder11, being provided upon the inner side, against which is placed themirror, or the glass ordinarily used in front of the picture to beframed. The outer or visible faces of the frame are covered with whitingor other substance 20 to give it a smooth finish and it may be otherwiseornamented as desired.

The frame is made up of a number of thin elastic strips 12, preferablyof basswood, bent into the proper shape and glued together. Each stripis cut to an exact length, so that when they are put in place, the endsof each strip will abut against each other and the inherent elasticityof the wood will cause the strip to bear upon the adjacent one withsufficient pressure to effect a perfect union.

Frames containing my invention are built up as follows :-Strips arefirst carefully cut to size, each consecutive strip being somewhatshorter than the preceding one. I find that by using strips of basswood, of about one thirty second of an inch in thickness, the besteffect is obtained. A mold A, is used to give the proper shape to theframe and said mold contains a recess a the contour of which is like thecontour of the finished frame. The longest one of the strips is laid insaid recess, by bending the strip around in the form of a hoop andallowing it to snap in place against the marginal wall a of the recess,care being taken to lay the strip in place so that its lower edge restsupon the bottom of the recess. As before stated care must be taken tocut the strip of the proper length so that its ends will abut and firmlyhold the strip in contact with its surrounding wall. The remainingstrips used to com plete the frame are first coated on one side withglue 6 after which they are put in place within the first strip,bringing the glued side into contact with the preceding strip, carebeing taken to break joint at the meeting edges of the strips. Whensufficient strips have been laid in place the mold is laid away forabout 20 minutes to give the glue time to dry and the frame may then betaken from the mold and another one made up therein.

For convenience in manufacture, it is preferable to use strips, all ofwhich are of the same width, and to form the shoulders afterwards. Whenthe glue has had-time to dry, the inner face of the frame is rabbetedout to form the shoulder, 11, after which the front corners may betrimmed off, and the exterior finish applied to the frame. A frameconstructed in this manner holds its shape without the employment of anyauxiliary stiffening devices. Furthermore this construction leaves nobreaks, shoulders or projections upon the margin of the frame, as wouldthe case be were a single long strip employed. In such a case the lastlap of the strip leaves a shoulder at the end of the strip which marsthe beauty of the frame. A very substantial frame is thus formed whichis not easily I broken and which can be manufactured at a less cost thanthe ordinary frame of this class. Furthermore the loss occasioned inthecourse of manufacture is greatly lessened on account of the particularmethod employed. I have found that when the strips have been sprung inplace, no other pressure is required to press the adjacent strips intofirm contact with each other than that which is obtained from theelastic quality of the strips themselves. Furthermore this 0011-struction provides a frame of uniform cross section throughout itsentire extent with unbroken surfaces upon its inner and outer,

faces, for the reason that the strips shape themselves to the perfectcontour of the mold and inasmuch as no strip overlaps another strip, butextends in an annular form rather than in a convolute form as do thestrips of the ordinary frame of this class, this frame results in one ofuniform cross section throughout its entire extent.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent A frame comprisinga plurality of thin elastic wood strips, superimposed upon and aroundeach other, bent into annular form, with their ends abutting againsteach other, and glued together.

In witness whereof I have executed the above application at Chicago,Illinois, this 7th day of March 1907.

JACOB MUELLER.

Witnesses:

ED. AoKRoMANN, E. E. WAGONER.

